Caution as stakes raised

By Malcolm Pein

12:01AM GMT 08 Dec 2005

Some of the players adopted a cautious approach as the stakes were raised in the fourth round of the Fide World Cup taking place in the Russian autonomous region of Khanty-Mansyisk. The ten most successful players gain a coveted berth in the next Fide WCC Candidates matches and with only sixteen left in the field a defeat in the first game of a two-game match could have serious consequences.

In these circumstances it is advantageous to have white in the second game as it confers an advantage akin to playing at home in the second leg of a Champions League tie in that the player with white can better dictate the tempo of the game. Two players lost with white; Konstantin Sakaev paid for his early aggression and now must win with black against Sergey Rublevsky while Loek van Wely over-pressed against Ruslan Ponomariov.

The remaining players are guaranteed a prize of between $21,000 and $100,000 less Fide’s 20% cut.

Round 4 results game 1

Bareev (Russia)

draw

Carlsen (Norway)

Bacrot (France)

draw

Lautier (France)

Vallejo Pons (Spain)

draw

Aronian (Armenia)

Grischuk (Russia)

1-0

Kamsky (USA)

Dreev (Russia)

draw

Gelfand (Israel)

M Gurevich (Belgium)

draw

Malakhov (Russia)

Sakaev (Russia)

0-1

Rublevsky (Russia)

Van Wely (Holland)

0-1

Ponomariov (Ukraine)

A risk free approach from Grischuk who keeps an edge from the opening and then attacks when his advantage in mobility is significant.